The Australian sharemarket ended narrowly higher on Thursday, snapping a four-session losing streak in mixed trade as gains in major miners and banks offset weakness across technology and consumer staples stocks.
The S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 10.3 points, or 0.1%, to close at 8,640.7, although seven of the index’s 11 sectors finished lower.
Investors also monitored developments overseas as U.S. President Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing for high-level talks covering trade and geopolitical tensions.
The Information Technology sector led declines, with WiseTech Global falling 4.8%, TechnologyOne losing 2.9%, and Life360 declining 2%.
Xero slumped 9% after reporting a full-year profit of NZ$167.4 million (A$137 million) for the year ended 31 March, with earnings impacted by higher-than-expected research and development spending.
Meanwhile, Megaport surged 27.7% after announcing it had secured A$254 million in long-term network and storage contracts. The agreements, involving two U.S.-based customers, are expected to generate annualised recurring revenue of $90.6 million.
Consumer staples stocks also weighed on the market after Coles fell 2.2% following a landmark Federal Court ruling that found the supermarket giant misled consumers through its “Down Down” pricing promotions.
Woolworths declined 1.3%, Metcash lost 2%, while Endeavour Group dropped 2.5%.
GrainCorp plunged 13.5% after reporting first-half profit of $33 million, down from $69 million a year earlier, with the company citing oversupply in global grain markets and weaker pricing conditions that compressed margins throughout the supply chain.
The Financial sector finished modestly higher, led by Commonwealth Bank, which rebounded 1.8% after plunging a record 10.4% in the previous session.
ANZ gained 0.8%, and Westpac rose 0.4%, while National Australia Bank slipped 1.2%.
The Materials sector weakened overall as gold miners came under pressure following stronger U.S. inflation data, which dampened bullion prices and reinforced expectations for higher-for-longer interest rates.
Northern Star Resources fell 2.4%, Evolution Mining lost 1.3%, Newmont declined 1.2%, St Barbara dropped 6.4%, and Bellevue Gold fell 2.4%.
However, heavyweight miners BHP and Rio Tinto bucked the trend, gaining 0.9% and 1.6% respectively to close at fresh record highs as copper prices remained near historic peaks.
Among individual companies, automotive parts retailer Bapcor tumbled 18.5% after downgrading its full-year EBITDA guidance issued in February to between $144 million and $150 million, citing difficult trading conditions linked to the Iran conflict.
On the bond markets, Australian government yields moved lower, with the 10-year yield down 0.9% to 5.022% and the two-year yield falling 1.2% to 4.705%.
